Kent Cricket League
Countries United Kingdom
AdministratorKent Cricket Board
FormatLimited Overs
First edition1970
Next edition2024
Tournament formatLeague
Number of teams10 (Premier Division)
Current championLordswood CC
Most successfulBromley CC (9)
Websitehttps://kcl.play-cricket.com

The Kent Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Kent, England.[1]

The league was founded in 1970 and the first season of play was 1971. The twelve founding clubs were Ashford, Aylesford Paper Mills, Dartford, Dover, Folkestone, Gore Court, Gravesend, Holmesdale, The Mote, St Lawrence and Highland Court, Sevenoaks Vine, and Tunbridge Wells.

Beckenham, Blackheath, and Bromley joined the league before the 1973 season. Aylesford Paper Mills left after the 1976 season but were replaced by Forest Hill, and then Bexley joined for the 1978 season. Forest Hill closed down in 1980, but Hayes (Kent) and Midland Bank (now New Beckenham) joined in 1982 to bring the number of clubs in the league up to seventeen.

A major change took place before the 1996 season, when the league absorbed the East Kent Cricket League and the South Thames Cricket League. A new structure with three divisions was introduced, and for the first time there was promotion and relegation.[2]

From 1999 the Kent League was a designated ECB Premier League.[3] From 1999 to 2002, the league experimented with matches played over two days on consecutive Saturdays and was the only ECB Premier League to do this, but it reverted to one day cricket in time for the 2003 season.[4]

Until the 2019 season the Kent League had six divisions each containing ten clubs, and below these six divisions lay the Kent Regional Cricket League. [5] The two leagues amalgamated in time for the 2023 season, when there was a total of thirty divisions. [6]

The 2020 competition was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Kent Cricket League was the only ECB Premier League in England which chose not to organise any kind of replacement competition for the later part of the season when cricket again became possible. Normal service was resumed when a full season of competitive matches was held in 2021.

The teams competing in the Premier Division in 2024 are expected to be Bexley, Bickley Park, Blackheath, Canterbury, Hayes, Lordswood, Minster, St Lawrence and Highland Court, Sandwich Town, and Tunbridge Wells.

Champions

    Premier 1st XI Performance by season from 1999

    Key
    Gold Champions
    Blue Left League
    Red Relegated
    Performance by season, from 1999
    Club 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
    Ashford 5 8 10
    Beckenham[lower-alpha 1] 5 4 10 5 6 6 3 5 1 8 1 8 10
    Beckenham and Sydenham[lower-alpha 1] 9 4 6 3 3
    Bexley 8 3 7 5 7 5 3 9 5 5 4 7 7 5 5 4 2 7 2 1 3 2
    Bickley Park 6 9 2 7 9 4 6 8 8 5 10 6 6 5 9
    Blackheath 5 4 5 9 6 2 3 4 4 2 5 1 8 6 4 6
    Broadstairs 8 10 10
    Bromley 2 2 5 1 4 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 4 4 7 8 9 10
    Bromley Common 10
    Canterbury 9 9 9
    Dartford 6 9 10
    Folkestone 7 4 1 7 6 7 8 10 10
    Gore Court 6 5 4 8 6 8 10
    Hartley Country Club 1 2 2 1 1 1 3 1 1 9
    Hayes 1 5
    Holmesdale 10 9 10
    HSBC 10
    Lordswood 6 5 9 6 9 9 3 6 2 2 6 7 4 2 7 7 7 1
    Minster 2 7
    The Mote 1 7 2 4 10 4 9
    Orpington 10 10
    St Lawrence and Highland Court[lower-alpha 2] 3 1 3 2 1 2 7 2 1 3 7 3 4
    Sandwich Town 9 10 8 9 3 5 5 2 8 8
    Sevenoaks Vine 4 6 4 3 2 8 4 6 7 7 6 7 5 3 8 1 2 6 8 4 4 4 6 9
    Sibton Park 10 9
    Tenterden 3 6 9
    Tunbridge Wells 9 8 8 9 8 5 8 3 8 7 10 7 8 7 3 3 3 5 3
    Whitstable 10 3 3 10 10
    References [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]
    1. 1 2 Beckenham entered into a merger after the 2000 season and became Beckenham and Sydenham, but this merger was dissolved before the 2008 season and Beckenham took the place in the Premier Division.
    2. ↑ St Lawrence and Highland Court were relegated after the 2010 season because they did not have the required Clubmark accreditation.

    References

    1. ↑ "Cricket Leagues in Kent". kentcricket.co.uk. Kent Cricket. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
    2. ↑ "Kent Cricket League 2012 Handbook". yumpu.com. Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League. p. 220. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
    3. ↑ List of ECB Premier Leagues Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
    4. ↑ "Kent Cricket League". kcl.play-cricket.com. Kent Cricket League. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
    5. ↑ "Kent Regional Cricket League". krcl.play-cricket.com. Kent Regional Cricket League. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
    6. ↑ "Kent Cricket League". kcl.play-cricket.com. Kent Cricket League. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
    7. ↑ Kent Cricket League 1999 Handbook
    8. ↑ Kent Cricket League 2000 Handbook
    9. ↑ Kent Cricket League 2001 Handbook
    10. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2002: Table".
    11. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2003: Table".
    12. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2004: Table".
    13. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2005: Table".
    14. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2006: Table".
    15. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2007: Table".
    16. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2008: Table".
    17. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2009: Table".
    18. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2010: Table".
    19. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2011: Table".
    20. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2012: Table".
    21. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2013: Table".
    22. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2014: Table".
    23. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2015: Table".
    24. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2016: Table".
    25. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2017: Table".
    26. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2018: Table".
    27. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2019: Table".
    28. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2021".
    29. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2022".
    30. ↑ "Premier 1st XI - 2023".
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